Vehicle-body.



B. L. CRAIG. VEHICLE BODY. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 20, 1911.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

UNITED srarns i a'rnnr orrion.

BIRCI-IARD L. CRAIG, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO.

VEHICLE-BODY.

Application filed December 20, 1911.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be it known that I, BIRCHARD L. CRAIG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle- Bodies, ofwhich the following is a specifioation.

My invention relates to improved means for connecting and applying bentpanels together and to the vehicle body.

The objects of my invention are to pro vide for the contraction andexpansion of the sills to prevent splitting of the bent panels andcracking of the paint and varnish at the corners and where the panelsare joined together; to obtain four rounded corners and a practicallycontinuous flat or unbroken outer surface of the panels; to simplify andcheapen the construction and also to obtain a stronger structure than isotherwise obtainable in constructions having bent or rounded cornerpanels; and to secure the panels together upon the inside and at thesame time form a brace strengthening the panels at their ends.

Contraction and expansion of wood takes place (by reason of atmosphericchanges, such as variations in heat or moisture) crosswise of the grain.

My invention consists in mounting upon wood sills constructed in theusual manner with the grain extending lengthwise thereof and havingrounded corners, bent wood panels joined together at their ends byupright. wood pillars having the grain thereof extending transversely tothe grain of the panels and separating the ends of the panels from eachother sufficiently to allow for the contract-ion and expansion of thesills to which the panels are attached.

My invention also consists in the peculiar construction, combination andarrangement of the several parts as herein set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which serves to illustrate theconstruction, application and use of my invention: Figure 1 is anisometric view of the vehicle body showing said device applied thereto;Fig. 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale showing my preferred meansof connecting the ends of the panels; Fig. 3 is an isometric View partlybroken away of the pillar detached; Fig. 1 is a to view of the ends ofthe panels, pillar anc sill; Fig. 0

Specification of Letters Patent.

is a side Patented Mar. 11,1913.

Serial No. 667,028.

elevation of the ends of the panels and the pillar as connected togethershowing the position and trend of the grains of the wood; Fig. 6 is anisometric view showing the usual form of the ends of the sills and themeans for connecting them together; Fig. 7 is a top View showing thebent panels engaging the sills at the corners; Fig. 8 is a top viewshowing a modified means of attaching and connecting the panels.

In th embodiment of my invention, as illustrated, and which shows apreferred construction, 10 represents the vehicle body comprising sidesills 11 having curved or rounded ends 12 and connected in the usualmanner by cross bars or end sills 13 having similarly formed ends, theends of the sills being fastened together by screws and glue orotherwise, the grain of the wood of the sills running lengthwise thereofto obtain the necessary strength. Bent panels 14: having the grainnecessarily running lengthwise thereof are secured at the bottom thereofto the outer ends of the side and end sills and to the seat posts 24:,the curved corners of the panels snugly fitting upon the curved ends ofthe sills and having the joints between the panels and sills glued toadd strength and to prevent water, moisture or dirt from getting betweenthe panels and the sills, thus providing a perfectly tight waterproofand dirt-proof joint between the parts. These panels 14 are connected orjoined together at their ends by pillars 15 interposed between anddisposed transversely of the ends of said panels and with the grain ofsaid pillars extending crosswise relatively to the grain of the panelsand in the same relative position as the grain in the side sills 11,thus giving substantially the same contraction and expansion as the sidesills, so that when the side sills 11 contract and expand crosswise, inthe direction of the arrows, the pillars 15 contract and expandcorrespondingly allowing the panels 14 at the end to lengthen or shortenin the same relative proportion as the side sills 11 contract andexpand, without providing any objectionable open space at the cornersbetween the sills and the panels to admit water, moisture and dirt andallow it to deteriorate or decay the sills at the corners and destroythe strength of the structure, thus preserving the initial strength ofthe body to the full life of the vehicle.

If for any reason there should be any variation in the relativecontraction and expansion of the sills and pillars the same is providedfor by the grooves or depressions The grooves 23 (Fig. 4:) are formedupon the outer surface at the juncture of the panels 11 and pillars 15.Consequently-if there should be any movement of the panels toward oraway from the pillar the break or crack formed thereby would be in thebottom of the groove and would. not spread or extend over any othersurface either of the panels or the pillar but would be confined to thebottom of said. groove where it would be hardly noticeable and,therefore, it would notmaterially affect or mar the beauty of theexterior surface.

I prefer to construct each of the pillars 15 of a strip having grooves16 extending longitudinally upon its edges to form tapering or V-shapedprojections 17 upon the outside and a raised support 18 on the insidehaving a shoulder or extension 19 extending over the side of each panel14 adjacent the end of said panel a sufficient distance to properlybrace and hold in position the ends of said panels and to provide meanswhereby said panels may be suitably attached or secured thereto. Iprefer to form the inside of the pillars oval-shaped to give the same aneat and finished appearance and permit the fastening screws 20 to passthrough the panel at an angle slanting toward its connecting end andinto the projection 17 of the pillar 15. The lower end of the support 18is cut away to form a shoulder 21 fitting snugly against the top of theend sill 13 and is held in place by a screw 22 inserted from the insideof the end sill 13.

At the point of contact with each projection 17 of the pillars 15 withthe panels 14 I prefer to form a groove or depression 23 the full lengthof the point of contact to con ceal and confine any possible checks orbreaks in the surface of the panel when subjected to unusual conditionsby reason of rough usage to the vehicle when no contraction or expansionis involved.

I prefer to make the side panels 1 1 of two continuous pieces joinedtogether at the center of each end of the vehicle body by the pillars 15as above described, thus providing a continuous unbroken surface fromthe center of the front end to the center of the rear end of the vehiclebody, or they may be joined at other points. If desired the panels 14may be formed of a larger number of pieces connected together by thepillars 15.

The contraction and expansion of both the side sills 11 and end sills 13is provided for by means of the pillar 15 which is adapted to contractand expand in proportion to the amount of contraction and expansion ofsaid sills. However, the end sills being very short the amount ofcontraction and expansion of same would be comparatively slight and anyexcess of expansion would be provided for by means of the joints and anybreak would be concealed by means of the grooves 23.

It will be apparent that my invention is capable of some modificationwithout departure from its scope or spirit, as for instance, the pillarsmay be constructed in the manner shown in Fig. 8 which involves a merechange in the shape of the connecting parts.

An important advantage of my construc tion consists in the extremelysimple, convenient and economical method of assembling the parts, allthat is required being merely to bend the two panels to the re quiredshape and insert the pillars between the ends of said panels and thensecuring same as before described.

Another important advantage of my invention is that it provides meanswhereby the contraction and expansion of the sills relatively to thepanels throughout the en tire length of the vehicle body is providedfor.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vehicle body, wood sills secured together and having the grainextending lengthwise thereof and having rounded corners, bent woodpanels suitably secured to said sills, pillars interposed between theends of said panels and having their grain extending at an anglerelatively to the grain of the panels and in substantially the samerelative position as the grain in the sills whereby the sills arepermitted to contract,

and expand laterally without substantially changing their relativerelationship to the panels, substantially as set forth and for thepurposes specified.

2. In a vehicle body, wood sills secured together and having roundedcorners and having the grain extending lengthwise thereof, bent woodpanels suitably secured to said sills and having their ends tapered,pillars interposed between the ends of said panels and having the grainextending at an angle relatively to the grain of the panels insubstantially the same relative position as the grain in the sillswhereby the sills are permitted to contract and expand laterally withoutsubstantially changing their relative relationship to the panels, saidpillars having longitudinal grooves in their edges adapted to receivesaid tapering ends of the panels, substantially as set forth and for thepurposes soecified.

3. In a vehicle ody, wood sills secured together and having roundedcorners and having the grain extending lengthwise thereof, bent woodpanels suitably secured to said sills, pillars interposed between theends of said panels and having longitudinal grooves in their edgesadapted to engage the ends of the bent wood panels, substantially 5 asset forth and for the purposes specified. 4. In a vehicle body, woodsills secured together and having rounded corners and having the grainextending lengthwise thereof, bent wood panels suitably secured 0 tosaid sills, pillars interposed between the ends of said panels andhaving longitudinal grooves in their edges to receive the ends of saidpanels and grooves in the outer surface at the points of contact of saidpillar and said panels, respectively, substantially as set forth and forthe purposes specified. BIRCHARD L. CRAIG. \Vitnesses JAMES N. RAMSEY,GOLDIE GORDON.

Copies of this patent nlay be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

